Friday, the steel was delivered for the foundation walls.  Saturday with the help of my brother Mike and his wife Lisa from Floyd; Jonathan from near Chapel Hill, Steve from next door, me, and Jack…we set 9 beams and 10 columns.  Beams averaged 2500 lbs. each so that is over 22,500 pounds of steel!

This is a little photo album showing this great teamwork that was completed in a matter of 6 hours with NO INJURIES and no mistakes!  We love our friend and family workdays!

http://bedfordlandingswordpresscom.shutterfly.com/8?eid=112

 

 

 

This is a sampling of the phrases we have heard from banks this week: “this is a unique property,” or it would be a “risky resale if you default,” or it is all “dependent on the appraisal” or, we are “running out of options.”

The bank, who we have been working with since April kept saying that the construction loan closing should happen within a few days, so readers of this blog know we started construction.  Last week, as we completed the pouring of the foundation walls, they implied that we would not get funding, then just today, they said, “I will continue to look for options outside the bank and I am sure you will also.  If I should find any other options I will let you know.”  So here we are with beautiful foundation walls and no funding.  We have now met with 6 banks. Our best hope is a Community Bank who says they are “willing to go out of the box.”

The appraisal used comps that were half the square footage of our plans, they were not on an airport, did not include a 2000 sf heated hangar, and were not timber frame.  Thus, the appraisal came in lower in value than we needed in order to qualify for an 80% construction loan.  We have exhausted the pittance we made on our North Carolina home and don’t want to stop work so we are doing what we can to continue to move forward.

This week, we worked on painting a lovely thick tar on the walls to waterproof them.  After this treatment, comes a plastic wrap, then some sort of styrofoam the gravel and french drains then more gravel.  Overkill perhaps, but I have lived in a leaky house before so I am not complaining!

The first day of spreading the tar, I was such a mess that I threw my clothes away.  Today I found come overalls and was much more careful.

This weekend, we will continue working.  We have friends and family coming to pitch in.  If you ever want to come spend a few days or even a few hours helping and having fun, please just email us and we can tell you what’s on the schedule as far as tasks and when we could use your helping hands!

Enjoy the beautiful Fall temperatures!

Since last week, the forms for the foundation walls have been built, leveled, measured, and readied for today–concrete pouring day!  The pumper truck arrived at 7:15 am.  As I write this (11:15 am) they are still pouring but they have almost filled the forms to the top.  The guy with the pumper truck wears a strapped on remote control to control the hose through which the concrete is flowing.

I shot this little video of this “fascinating” (as Mark S. remarked) procedure.  I did a little narration but not loudly, so turn up the sound!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTPedOyP4go

Tomorrow they will take off the forms and we will be ready to smear on tar to waterproof.  Jack says that this is a very enjoyable process and I will love it (tongue in cheek!).

The bank has still not approved the construction loan so now we are out of our money (the little we made on the Bonsal House) and we are bugging the bank for a closing date.  We do have the waterproofing materials in hand, but after that comes the steel and we have not felt financially comfortable having that fabricated yet.

It feels like Fall is in the air (much cooler).

The Wall Crew arrived and is busily working to put up forms in which to pour the concrete.  There is hope we can move forward with our project!

This should like to a little photo book I put together to show our progress so far. 

 

No new work on the house except putting gravel down in the floor area and spreading it.  Spreading it with a rake was good shoulder exercise!  We did hire a new wall pouring contractor.  They delivered the forms yesterday so we are fairly confident they will show up Monday (even tho it is Labor Day) to start forming walls and pour them next week.  Having a strong and firm foundation is a critical part of building the house.  I have often used this parallel when teaching about families and children.  The first three years are critical in building a relationship with children, and building personal relationships on multiple aspects of getting along (not just sex or not just a business partnership, for example) is crucial.  OK- I will give lecturing a break!  This nice aerial photo shows our footers and hangar plus the neighbor’s house and hangar.

Speaking of human dynamics, I made a huge decision NOT to move Mom back to Wheatland Hills in Christiansburg when she got out of the Allegheny hospital.  Instead, I moved her to a memory care program in Roanoke, VA called Emeritus.  They appear to be well-designed for memory care.  On Thursday, Jack and my brother and sister-in-law met me to move her belongings from Wheatland.  Mom’s forever good friend, Marge, came to help.  We pared down her belongings to less than before as her space is smaller. This photo is sad in a way depicting all of Mom’s remaining belongings.

I picked her up from the hospital Friday and we had a great time in the car, singing, listening to classical music, and trying to have a conversation.  Knowing her intonations and facial expressions helps me to understand what she is trying to say even though she doesn’t weave words together correctly.  Mike (my brother) met me at the new facility.  We took her to her room, walked all around the grounds and explored the corners of activity.  They have a woodworking area, a kitchen to piddle around in, a doll rocking area, an office, a train station and other comfy areas to relax, watch TV and busy oneself. There are 4 levels of care and Mom is in level 2.  She was full of love and kisses for everyone.  All was going well until after about 3 hours, it was time to leave.  She wanted me to stay there and realized that it was a new place and she said she didn’t know these people.  I involved staff in helping with the transition of departing, but by then, I was getting the cold shoulder and NO KISSES!  I just left and hopefully the staff pitched in to helping her find her new room again and adjust.  It so reminds me of leaving the kids in day care!

There were a few funny stories of other residents that I met yesterday as there always are with this population but chances are if I shared them, I would be laughing inside and you would figure it was one of those “you had to be there” events!

Last weekend’s progressive dinner Hangar Hop was successful.  Our porch accommodated the crowd of about 30 or so.

So the event turned out well as we roved the hangars for each dinner course with only a few stitches, scrapes, and a DUI involved!  None of that applied to us, thank goodness, but unfortunately, for other overzealous partiers!  Steve (next door) suggested that next time we should have a Sunday afternoon ice cream social!

Two favorite parts of the week are that my good friend Susan Henson came to visit and we got new wheels!  We are sooo in vogue now at the airport!  Everyone has one but us and now we have one too!  A shiny red golf cart!

Until next time, don’t get caught up in the political hype.  Never talk about politics at a cocktail party, and if you ever want to really tell someone what you think of them, speak to an empty chair first and practice!  Make my day!!